The Einzbern's Hero
by neverendingZero
Summary: He is someone who has lost his way, strangled eternally by his regrets. He is given a chance to redeem himself. The question is: Will he take it or Will he reject it? "Don't give up yet hero. You still have people to save."
1. Prologue redone

A/N: Alright guys so I did something a little bit differently here. Instead of a full remake I decided to remake parts of the story while keeping some of the original content, to satisfy myself (Because I wrote some pretty cool scenes in here that I don't want to get rid of.) and hopefully those of you who wanted both a remake and a continuation (That mean's the poll was meaningless yay!). I'm posting this in chapter 6 as a way to see what you guys think and hopefully, by the end of this week or the next I'll have this chapter in first and have the rest done and posted and be working on chapter 5.

The Einzbern's Hero

Prologue

xxx

I am the bone of my sword

 _And with that, the gears of his world began to turn._

Steel is my body and fire is my blood

 _Words that strengthen every nook and cranny of his imperfect reality._

I have created over a thousand blades

 _They spoke the power of his conviction._

Unknown to death

 _The weight of his victories._

Nor known to life

 _The weight of his failures._

Have withstood great pain to create many weapons

 _They told the legend of an ally of justice._

Yet those hands will never hold anything

 _And his descent into despair._

so as I pray

 _But don't give up yet, hero-_

UNLIMITED BLADE WORKS

 _You still have people to save._

xxx

There he stands, alone again atop the hill of swords, in the middle of his world. Even the man himself doesn't know for how long he has been alone, but he still stands there looking as another sword is added to his collection and the memories have been added to his mind, and a single thought enters his head.

'Another mission complete.'

Now he waits, waits for his master to pull on his leash again.

Next to him is a single sword, just like any other sword added to his collection yet so different. This one was embedded in stone, the first sword to enter his collection through not actually seeing it, but by dreaming it. This was a sword that he cherished deeply and was more a memento than a weapon given to him by his savior and partner.

Just like the jeweled amulet which was given to him by his best friend.

Just like the ribbon which was given to him by his poor childhood friend.

Just like the small bow which had been given to him by his family, his first regret. The day she gave him the bow was also the day she told him who she really was. She told him it was a gift to her mother from her father, which she found at home after she died and now was giving it to him. When he asked who her father was her answer shocked him. He didn't understand why he wasn't told this; why did she have to tell him and not his old man? Why didn't he say anything, why didn't he ever even try to? She told him all about her life with them, how her mother was always so gentle with her, how her father never broke a promise to her.

He understood now why she had been so angry with him, he had stolen something very precious from her. He attempted to apologize to her, but she said there was no need because she was no longer angry, she understood now and she was so happy to have a little brother, she said that the old man had given her the best present he ever gave her: him, her hero. He was so happy he hugged her, hugged her like if he let go she would disappear forever.

...

She died in his arms that night, in 'his' arms. He remembers just holding onto her tightly, never making a sound. He stayed like that until his sobbing guardian pulled him away so that someone could collect the body. He remembers not going to the funeral, and how everyone else did. A week after that marked the end of his civilian life as he then began his travels, honing his skills on the world before him and eventually unlocking his greatest power.

Then the end of his journey came to mind as thoughts of deals, betrayal, and then death flashed across it.

As if a siren had blared, he was snapped out of his thoughts quickly. He knew this sound, the sound of royal trumpets in the air as if announcing to his world that legends had arrived.

This was the sound of The Holy Grail War summoning him.

Suddenly seven big round buttons appeared in front of him, each having a title stamped on it. The buttons were all yellow with the titles being blue.

Saber

Archer

Lancer

Rider

Caster

Assassin

Berserker

He waited for six of the buttons to gray out for him to select the class he was most suited for.

All seven of the buttons were grayed out.

He was confused. What did this mean, why summon him to this war if he wasn't suited for any of the classes? Wait, that didn't make sense since there were only seven participants and he was one of them. There were only seven participants...right?

Suddenly as if answering his thoughts an eighth button appeared, popping into existence right next to the Archer class.

He took one look at the word and felt even more confused.

Archer

Why were there two of the same class? It didn't make sense- the grail was only supposed to summon seven servants, and yet it seems he was the eighth; nor was it supposed to summon 2 servants of the same class, and yet it did.

It truly did seem that this grail no longer follows the rules that were made for it.

He looked at the button and sighed. He pressed it and immediately felt the grail begin to copy his story to send to the summoning master.

He looked up at gears of his world and sighed.

'When will this finally end?' He thought bitterly.

As the grail finished its work he felt it drag a small piece of him with it. Then all traces of the grail left his world, taking the copy of him with it and leaving the original alone once more on the hill of the world of swords.

The man once known as Shirou Emiya sighed once again as he hoped that this time that things would end just a bit more in his favor.

xxx

(Unknown Location)

In a church, there were a man and his wife. They stood near the altar of the church while the man, who had dark hair, a long black trench coat over what seemed to be a black suit with a matching color tie, a small patch of facial hair on his chin, and eyes like that of a corpse, stands before a summoning circle with what seemed to be a blue and golden colored scabbard placed on the altar. Behind him was his wife who had snow white hair and red eyes, and wore a white dress with yellow strips going from going from shoulder to shoulder going along the collar.

She looked to her husband and asked: "Are you ready?"

The dark haired man looked at her and nodded, and then begins to chant.

"Shut(fill), Shut(fill), Shut(fill), Shut(fill), Shut(fill)."

"Repeat five times."

"But destroy each when filled."

"I hereby swear."

"I will be all that is good in the eternal world."

"I will be the disposer of all the evil in the eternal world ."

"Thou shall come under my command."

"So let thy sword be my fate."

"Abiding by the summons of the Holy Grail."

"If thou dost accede to this will and reason, answer me."

And with that the summoning circle glowed bright blue, followed by a blinding light. When the light disappeared standing in the middle of the circle was a blond haired and green eyed woman wearing a blue formal dress with silver armor over top of it.

"Servant Saber has answered your summons. I have only one question: are you my master?" She said.

The man confusedly looked at the woman but nodded after they cleared up a misunderstanding about who she was. They then turned to leave... that is until the circle began to glow once more.

Saber raises her sword to strike, the man and his partner both ready themselves to flee with the man's wife. Suddenly the wife holds her left hand as if she is in a lot of pain as everyone in the room notices the glowing stigma forming on her left hand.

"K-Kiritsugu, what's..." The wife mutters.

"I don't know Iri, this wasn't supposed to happen." Kiritsugu said.

A figure appeared in the light, a tanned man with snow white hair similar to the woman known as Iri, his eyes shut. He wore red shroud over black and white body armor, his lower half was also covered by the red shroud, and he was wearing dark pants and black steel toed boots.

"Master, orders!" Saber yelled to her master as she raises her sword to strike down the mysterious servant. Kiritsugu thought for a second, from the fact that his wife had what seems to be a pair of command seals and the reactivation of the summoning circle that grail had chosen his wife to be a master. However, this servant was an unknown and was possibly hostile. That was a chance he was not willing to take.

Kiritsugu looks to Saber and commanded:

"Attack."

Saber took off in mere second at the mysterious servant, the invisible sword raised high in the air prepared to strike the intruder down. Her sword falls towards him, intent on cleaving him in two.

A pair of dark eyes snapped open.

CLANG!

Steel met steel in an instant as her sword had met the blade of two others that had not existed a moment before. They were married swords by the looks of them- one was black and the other was white, and they were the same shape and had the same details, just different colors.

With a strong thrust, the servant threw off Saber and kicked her in the gut sending her spiraling to the floor.

The Servant whistled, "Whew, that was close huh, a few more seconds and I would've been cut in two."

Kiritsugu points his gun towards him, an origin bullet cocked into place. He knew what it did to magi, but not to servants, but hopefully this could buy them enough time should things go sour. Saber began to slowly pick herself off the floor. The servant slowly raised his hands, the married swords disappearing into thin air.

"Now, now I didn't come for a fight." He said as he began to look around the large room to find his connection.

Looking around the room the mysterious red servant was a bit stunned, though his face didn't show it, to see the current occupants of the church.

'Well, well. Isn't this interesting, to think I'd be summoned back this far. That would be just my luck, ' He thought. His eyes roaming over everyone in the room until he felt the person who was giving him a serious amount of prana. He looked towards the source and was...so surprised to see that it was coming from someone who looked very familiar.

The servant walked up, albeit hastily, to the white haired woman and was slightly let down by the noticeable difference between this woman and...her. He didn't back away when he heard Kiritsugu cock his gun and Saber tighten her grip on her sword. Instead, he addressed the woman.

"I guess by the connection I feel between us, that you are my master?" He said smirking at her before. "I was hoping for a less violent welcome, but at least this time I have a master who summoned me properly."

Irisviel made a small protest.

"But I didn't summon you."

"Huh?" The look on the servant's face was of utter confusion. Why was nothing working properly today? Was something wrong with the Grail system? Well, besides being from filled to the brim with all the world's evils.

"Well, be that as it may, by our contract, I will be your servant for the duration of this war." He said looking down at her.

"W-what's your class?" His master stammered.

"I am Servant Archer." He answered.

At this point in time, Kiritsugu had put down his gun and had looked the servant up and down. Various possibilities ran through his mind on what to do with him, but for now, he needed answers.

"Archer." He said drawing the red servant's attention.

"What is your true name?" He more demanded than asked. If Kiritsugu was going use him to his full advantage, he was going to need to know how the heroic spirit ticked.

Archer looked at the man for a good minute...

Then turned his head back to Irisviel completely ignoring Kiritsugu, much to the man's surprise and irritation.

"Archer, what is your true name." Kiritsugu repeated, more forcefully this time.

This time Archer looked at the magus killer with a raised eyebrow.

"Why should I tell you, as far as I know you're an enemy master," Archer said turning his entire body towards Kiritsugu. This caused Saber to jump in front of the man and get into a battle ready stance. As Archer was about to step forward a small hand stopped him. He looked at the person whose hand it was and raised both his eyebrows when he saw that it was his master's.

"Stop Archer, please tell us your true name?" she asked.

All the red servant could do was sigh.

"It's not really that important." He told, but her eyes told him that answer wasn't acceptable.

"Fine it's..." He hesitated for a brief second at the of risking them finding out who he really was and of speaking a name he had long since abandon. They didn't need to know the whole truth, just enough to trust him.

"It's Shirou." He said.

"Shirou, hmm yes that's a fine name." Irisviel said with a gentle smile. Archer turned away from her abit outta embarrassment.

Kiritsugu looked at him before asking: "Which mythology are you from? Greek, Norse?"

Archer scratched the back of his head.

"Ahh, well, you won't really find me in textbooks," He told Kiritsugu.

"What do you mean?" Irisviel asked, confused.

Archer looked at them for a short while before answering.

"Well you see, I come from the future."

Needless to say, the shock on everyone's face was priceless.

* * *

A/N: Yep that's right 2 ANs count it 2! This one is a bit different though as I was gone and now all the sudden Uftoable's Fate/Stay nights UBW came and left, not to mention Fate/Grand Order a mobile game that came out like almost a year ago and has it's own Movie-like OVA with a sequel coming out soon. A 'mobile' game has it's own OVA...wow. Not mention Heaven's feel , the only route I have yet to see, one of it's three movie are coming out this year. Not to mention Fate/Apocrypha (MORDRED!) and Fate/Extella.

Huh?...Oh and yeah Kaleid liner prisma Illya getting another season I think...woopie.

Man, it's a good year to be a Fate fan, now if only they could remake the Fate route or at least an OVA of the last episode. My life would be complete.

Anywho this AN is for me to ask you all stuff like who's your character, what's your favorite route, and/or what's your favorite Fate story.

Wether you have questions about the story or just wanna chat about PM me or leave in a review along with your criticism.

Since this AN is getting too long I will just say that so far Shirou is my favorite Fate character.

Seeya

Update (2/6/17): So I have a new Beta for this story, his name is Laukhi. Everything grammar should be fixed and you have him(or her? I haven't really asked.) to thank for that. However i do have an announcement to make, So unlike with the prologue I couldn't just take some ideas out and new ones in Chapter 1. As chapter 1 is directly linked to EMIYA being Avenger and how he kept most things about him hidden from everyone. So i'm basically re-writing the chapter and that it will be more original and it won't screw with 2 and 3 too much. Also do look forward to a huge surprise coming hopefully soon. Also note that by Friday chapter 1-4 plus the update will be taken down and the redone prologue will be on chapter 1.


	2. Chapter 1 redone

A/N: Yep i'm writing two A/Ns for probably every chapter, top for info on this story and how I feel about, and bottom to answer your reviews and talk about Fate related things. So this is honestly the longest chapter I have ever written, usually I try to max myself at 4K words or below a chapter, but over 5K (not counting A/Ns) sheesh. Anytime I write that much I feel like i'm either adding useless junk or i'm making things up. Luckily I didn't feel that way for this chapter. Also just in case anyones wondering, at the very least i'll try to have these chapters out once a week, at the most a month. I'm not making promises, but know that i'll try my best to get them out. Also know that I was able sneek some of the orignal material from chapter 1 into the redone. Anywho that's enough for today onwards to the story.

Fun Fact: Did you know that I originally intended TEH to be set during F/SN with Illya being Archer's master and Rin having an orignal servant...probably.

* * *

The Einzbern's Hero

Chapter 1

xxxx

Walking through the doors of the Einzbern castle made Archer really uncomfortable. Despite what his master and the old man believed, it was not his first time walking through those doors. However, that was a story for another time. Archer looked around taking in the setting of the giant entrance. Straight across from them was a staircase that had a red carpet that from the front door, across the marble floor, and up the stairs. Beside them were white marble columns that stretched from the floor to the ceiling. Beside each column was a maid dressed in that attire that Archer had always found ridiculous.

'Too white, and that head dress,' He thought.

A small memory came to him of two similarly dressed maids, both standing to the right and left of someone. People whose names and faces he could no longer remember.

Hearing whispers near him caused Archer to glance around him as he, Saber, Kiritsugu, and his master walked towards the stairs. Men and women, who were probably actual members of the Einzbern family due to their lacking white hair and red eyes, were all around them staring.

"I thought they were only allowed to summon one Servant, how did they manage to summon two?"

"Look at the puppet's hand, she's a master?!"

"What kind of joke is this?!"

"First, Grandfather allows that disgrace of a magus to join our family, and now the doll has her own Servant. How shameful."

Some of the whispers were about Saber.

"Is that the legendary King Arthur?"

"So they actually managed to summon him?"

"He's so pretty."

"Yeah, he seems almost...feminine."

Others... were about him.

"Who do you think he is?"

"I've never heard of someone from any legend with white hair and tan skin."

"His outfit is ridiculous, and just look at that hair."

"He was probably a barbarian in life."

"Look at him, he looks... mangy."

At the mention of "mangy", a certain blue-haired spear-wielding dog popped into his head, causing Archer to scowl.

They finally stopped at one of the rooms in a hallway. Irisviel then turned to look at Saber and him.

"Saber, Archer stay in this room while Kiritsugu and I report what happen at the summoning to Grandfather," She told both the Servants.

They nodded and watched as both of their masters walked back down the hallway.

They entered the room. It was small, with only a small round table and chairs in the middle of it. Archer went to one of the walls and leaned his back against it, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes, while Saber decided to look out one of the windows.

Archer tried not to, but he couldn't help but stare at Saber. He... knew her at least somewhat. He knew from the moment he had recognized her that she was King Arthur, the Saber-class Servant of Kiritsugu Emiya and ten years from now the Servant of Shirou Emiya.

His former Servant.

'No... no, that's not right.' Archer thought.

She wasn't his Servant. No, she was...

His partner.

His friend.

Archer let out a heavy sigh, frustrated at the hand he had been dealt. The sigh, however, was not unnoticed by the blonde swordswoman, who turned to look at him.

"Is something the matter, Archer?" She asked him.

"No, just wondering," He told her, cracking one eye open to look at her.

"About?" She inquired.

"...Which one of us our Masters would kill off."

Saber's breath caught in her throat. She narrowed her eyes at the white-haired Servant.

"Come now, Saber, this is a match that can end with only one result. Even if our Masters are spouses, there can still only be one winner," Archer said, with a patronizing smirk on his face.

"Archer! You don't truly think our masters would be...!" She said, outraged that Archer would even consider such a thing.

"Ah, but I do Saber," Archer interrupted her. "I told you didn't I? I'm from a possible future, I know how modern magi think."

Saber kept quiet as Archer continued.

"Now, had it been any other magus, I actually do think that they would have us duke it out in a final battle if we were the last two left. However, your master is quite the oddball."

Saber started at him confused.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I've said too much now already. I don't want to give too much about myself away just yet," Archer said amusedly.

"Archer!" Saber snapped at him.

"However..," He interrupted her again. "A word of warning, do not trust your Master to do things your way."

With that little tidbit of information, Archer closed his eye and continued resting against the wall, leaving Saber upset and confused. She turned around and walked back towards the window.

After a while, Kiritsugu and Irisviel came back. Irisviel then began to explain what happen in their meeting with the head of the Einzberns. There wasn't much to tell, as Kiritsugu and Irisviel had simply reported what had taken place in the church. The head, called Grandfather by Irisviel, was surprised at first but was later very pleased as their chance of winning was now doubled, and sent them away after they were finished.

Kiritsugu then took Irisviel's place as the speaker and informed the Servants of his plan for the Grail war and...

Well...

"This is unacceptable!" Saber shouted at her master. "You can not honestly expect me to leave you unguarded and pretend to be lady Irisviel's Servant so we can deceive the other Servants while Archer strikes them from behind! It is cowardly and distasteful," She said with disgust.

Her Master just ignored her and looked at Irisviel.

"This will be the plan for as we long as we can keep Archer hidden," He explained to her.

All Saber could do was stare in shock as he flat-out ignored her presence.

Irisviel then turned to look at Archer.

"Archer, are you ok with this?" She asked him to which Archer just sighed.

"If my Master is willing, then use me to your heart's content, Kiritsugu Emiya," The red Bowman said a tad dramatically, surprising his would-be foster father.

This, however, did not sit well with Saber.

"Archer, as a fellow heroic spirit, how can you condone this!?" She snapped at him.

Archer looked at her for a moment before speaking.

"How about this, Saber? Since I see you have no intention of backing down, I will not interfere in your battles unless the situation is absolutely dire. And in return, you shall protect my master?"

Despite having said this, Archer had no intention of keeping his promise. He saw the benefits of Kiritsugu's plan, and as much as he admired Saber's sense of chivalry, all it would do is cost them their chance at winning.

After that Saber conceded and accepted Archer's proposal.

"Great!" Irisviel said excitedly. "Now with two of the seven Servants on our side, there's no way we can lose!" She and Kiritsugu began to walk towards the door before Archer called out to them.

"Wait, Master. I'd rethink that if I were you," He told her.

Irisviel and Kiritsugu looked at him, confused, as did Saber.

"What do you mean, Archer?" The Servant of the sword looked at him confusingly.

"I was indeed the last Servant to be summoned, but I was in no way the seventh. During my...'summoning' I felt 'connected' with someone, as though we were apart of something similar. I believe there is a second archer-class Servant in this war," He explained and also praying that it wasn't who he thought it was.

He doubted his E-ranked luck would let him be right, however.

Kiritsugu stared at him for a second, no doubt scouring his face for lies. After finding none he responded with a curt "I see" and left along with Irisviel. Leaving Saber and Archer alone once more.

Archer turned towards Saber and said, " Might as well go explore."

Then he left, leaving Saber alone.

xxxx

At this point all Archer could do was sigh at how stupid he was. He had told them about what had happened before his summoning and how it seemed there were eight Servants this round rather than seven, and how there were two Archers instead of one.

It was important they know that as not knowing it would've left them at a huge disadvantage. However, he didn't tell them about the Grail and how it was corrupted, at least not yet. It would be better to work behind the scenes for now on that project or he might accidently change something he didn't mean to and could not fix later- at least. that's what he was telling himself. For now, though, he would focus on his job as a Servant and protect his master.

The reception they got from the other members of the castle had been less than stellar, but it didn't matter too much to him what other people thought of him. With the life he led, he had gotten used to people badmouthing or underestimating him.

The main problem at the moment was that the Grail had to be dealt with- not just because it could hurt innocent people, but it could hurt humanity as a whole. He knew he had until the end of the Grail war to figure out a solution to that problem. Maybe bringing the old man in on that little bit of info would be helpful, but...

Well, it could lead to a conversation that he'd rather not have...ever. Not to mention how different he was to what Archer could remember. Of course, he wasn't completely in the dark about his old man's time as the Magus Killer. He knew that Kiritsugu had done some very bad things before they had met.

Then again, so had he in his servitude as a hound of Alaya.

Maybe if he spoon-fed the info and made it seem like it was from clues he had picked up during the duration of the war. Yeah, perhaps that would work.

Next problem: Gilgamesh, the King of Heroes should have been summoned this time as an Archer-class Servant. That fact that it seemed as if he and that arrogant king had so many similarities somewhat irked him. Sure, in the fifth war Saber had managed to kill him, but that was only because he was made human by that evil mud during the fourth war. Now, he was summoned as an Archer-class Servant and with all the perks that go with it. Not to mention Ea; just the thought of that blade made him shudder.

Yeah, the plan was another work in progress.

Alright, on to the next prob...

"Hey, mister!" A small child-like voice called out to him.

A sudden tugging on his cloak caught his attention and pulled the bowman out of his thoughts.

He looked at the cause of the noise and when his eyes landed on the figure, his breath caught in his throat. Staring up at him was a tiny child, one that would one day grow up to be someone he would care about very much. A little girl whose name had long since faded from his memory along with her voice, with only her image remaining.

Slowly, he bent down to look face to face with the young girl.

"Yes?" He asked.

The little girl looked him up and down as if sizing him up. Eventually, she stopped and smiled to herself as if satisfied with her inspection.

"You can play with me!" She said to him as if he should be honored.

"...Um, what?" He said wondering if he heard right.

The white haired little girl looked at him, a little annoyed.

"I said that you, Mr. Brown man, you are allowed to play with me," She said again.

Mr. Brown man? What kind of nickname was that?

Wait... did she just want someone to play with?

Well, why didn't she just say that?

However...

"And why would I want to play with someone who is rude?" He said as he poked the small girl's forehead, causing her to move back in surprise and rub the spot he poked.

"But...you're...I said you were allowed!" She told him stubbornly.

To that, he nodded.

"True, but why would I want to play when you haven't even asked me to?" He pointed out.

This caused the kid to look at the ground for a moment before she began to mumble something under her breath.

Archer raised his eyebrow. "Hmm..what is it?"

"Please...play with me," She said causing Archer to smile.

"See now, was that so hard?" He shot a small smile towards her, causing her to smile back.

"Come on!" She as she grabbed his hand and started to pull him down the hall.

"My name is Illyasviel, but you can call me Illya, what's yours?" She said.

At hearing her name, a small memory popped into his mind of a white-haired girl of another time introducing herself to him.

"Ahh...Illya...that was the name," He mumbled under his breath. This caused Illya to look up at him in question, but he told her it was nothing.

"So, what's your name?" Illya asked again. This caused the red bowman to think for a second. While he could tell her the same thing he told his master and Kiritsugu...

...What was the harm?

"You can call me...Emiya," He told her, causing her to look up at him in surprise.

"That's the same as Kiritsugu's last name!" She said in excitement.

"Yeah, but it's a secret between you and me ok?" He said putting his index fingers in front of his mouth in a shushing motion. Which Illya repeated and nodded her head.

"Good, now...what game are we going to play?" Archer asked.

"We're gonna look for walnuts!" Illya said as she and Archer stepped out the front door.

"What?"

xxxx

Kiritsugu was frustrated, to say the least. Even though Archer had revealed to them that he was from the future, the Magus Killer knew the red-clad Servant was holding info from then. Every time he had tried to pry anymore out of him Archer always deflected the question either with another question or by saying something completely ridiculous.

He had already figured out how to use to both the Servants in an effective way, with Saber pretending to be Irisviel and Archer staying hidden as no other master knew they had two Servants. That would give them the element of surprise and hopefully allow them to kill both enemy masters and Servants quickly.

Saber was against the plan, but Kiritsugu had ignored anything she had to say. To Kiritsugu's surprise, Archer had had no complaints and even had ended up convincing Saber to go along with the plan more willingly. While he had agreed not to interfere in her fights, the Magus Killer had a feeling that Archer wasn't actually planning on honoring that agreement.

Nonetheless, he had booked tickets to Fuyuki for him a few hours before Irisviel, Archer, and Saber would arrive, as a means to meet up with Maiya and check out any spots that would give them an advantage. In war, anything was fair as far as Kiritsugu was concerned.

This was his last chance. Everything rode on the fact the Grail could end this endless cycle of conflict and violence. This was his chance to finally come through on his dream: to create a safer, more peaceful world where no one would die. This was for all those he had sacrificed.

...And all those he would end up sacrificing.

To create a more peaceful world for his child and all those who were innocent. No amount of bloodshed, guilty or innocent, was too much.

A sudden noise interrupted his line of thought. The noise was familiar, it was used to alert Kiritsugu if one of his familiars had spotted something. The familiar that had set off the alert was the one that Kiritsugu had sent to keep an eye on the Tohsaka estate in Fuyuki, home to one of the other masters of the Grail war: Tokiomi Tohsaka. As far as his info went, Tokiomi was your typical magus. Nothing mattered more to him than his research and keeping his legacy alive.

However, Kiritsugu recently found out that Tokiomi had given his youngest daughter, Sakura Tohsaka, to the Matou family. That particular piece of info had the potential to be important in the future, as the black sheep of the Matou family, Kariya Matou, was also a master in this war.

Anyway, Kiritsugu began to look through the eyes and saw what was the Tohsaka's back garden. At first, Kiritsugu didn't see what had caused, but after awhile saw what it was. Appearing from the shadow was what appeared to be a man whose entire body was completely black from head to toe with the exception of the bone white mask on his face. Kiritsugu deduced that this likely was one of the Servants and that his class was Assassin if the stealth approach was any indicator.

It seemed the black Servant's sights were set on a red gem in the middle of the garden. As he walked towards the gem the barriers protecting it seemed to prematurely explode.

Once Assassin got to the red jewel, a golden light appeared from atop the Tohsaka mansion. Kiritsugu was fairly certain it was Tokiomi's Servant, however, the light was too bright and the familiar was only able to make out the outline of the Servant. From the outline, Kiritsugu could tell that the golden Servant was a man. Appearing from a golden light came a rain of weapons that cut down Assassin from where he stood without mercy.

Soon the golden light along with the Servant disappeared from the top of the mansion, and Kiritsugu cut the connection to his familiar to think about what he had seen. Assassin, it seems, was out of the war, but what about his master? Kiritsugu only knew of four other masters, other than him and Irisviel, not to mention an eighth unknown master according to Archer.

Archer...

What was he going to do about him? The Servant of the bow seemed to be alright with some of his methods, but how long until the heroic spirit becomes a liability? When it came down to it, only one Servant and master were allowed to obtain the Grail, and his wife was already doomed to die. How long would it be until Archer realizes that and he snaps after realizing he can't obtain the Grail? Preferably, that problem would wait until most of the other Servants and masters have been dealt with, but it would be best to have a plan in place just in case.

Suddenly, someone bursting through his door drove him out of his thoughts. The figure immediately jumped on his lap as he saw a small head of snow white hair that he knew belonged to only one person of that size.

"Hey! Hey, Kiritsugu, play with me!" Illya said with her beaming red eyes staring up into his.

Kiritsugu chuckled a bit at his daughter's antics. He knew that she knew that he would never deny her request. Even if he couldn't play with her right then, he would always promise her he would play later, and he never broke his promises.

"Of course, anything for you, my princess," Kiritsugu said rubbing the top of her head.

The man lifted up from his chair along with his daughter and carried her out of his office and shutting the door, ready to spend the next couple of hours with one of the people most precious to him before he headed off to war.

He, however, did not catch the evil look his daughter had plastered across her face.

xxxx

Archer was staring out the window of a small room. He had played with Illyasviel, in looking for walnut buds for about 2 hours. It was a contest to see who could find the most, and he had won, of course. Having perfect vision had also helped as the final score ended up as Archer: 15 and Illya: 4. After she admitted defeat, which took a while, she decided to use this knowledge to her advantage of how many walnut buds there were and went to get Kiritsugu to play. Archer was slowly reminded of the things the Illya of his time did just to win, whether it was in the Holy Grail war or just a small bet that she and...

Wait...who was it that kept antagonizing Illya again?

Ugh, he hated when his memory got like this. Archer could remember various things about him and his Grail war. The night of the fire, summoning Saber, destroying the Grail...

...Illya's death.

However, some things still alluded him, like remembering the names of his close friends or what they looked like. He could remember Kiritsugu, but not the person who took care of him after his death. He could remember scenes of happier days, but the faces of those involved were blank.

As he was thinking of this, his mind floated towards a certain blonde Servant who was currently residing somewhere else in the castle. She was a special case, even more so than himself. He remembered the conversation he had with...his friend. How Saber shouldn't remember past wars- while he could remember past wars as well, he couldn't in the way Saber could. He remembered repeating the fifth Grail war many times.

When Archer had first arrived at this time he was shocked, but then that shock turned to hatred. He hadn't wanted to be there; he didn't want to relive his past. He had remembered enough of his copies going into the fifth war and seeing his past self become what they were trying to stop all over again that he found the entire thing pointless and irritating. He couldn't say that he remembered his copies going into the fourth war, but who knows? Maybe he had simply forgotten that he did that a lot. After living for so long, his mind could no longer remember much of his past life.

He knows he knew Saber when he was human, and he knows that he mostly called her Saber when they knew each other, but he knows that she was called something else as well. He knows she was King Arthur, as that's what the sword in the stone he has inside his world says, but she was called something else as well, from so very, very long ago.

A hand tugs his sleeve and he's dragged out of his thoughts as his eyes stare into red ones, the events that happened earlier today replay in his mind. His mind immediately thinks 'Illya', but after a second he realized that it was his Master, Irisviel- Illya's mother. Thoughts of what-ifs and what could have been flashed through his mind, but he shrugged them off.

"Archer?" Her words bring him out of his thoughts once more.

"Yes Master, is there something you require my assistance with?" He asked.

"Are you okay?" She asks "You seemed like you were spacing out."

Archer shakes his head "Ah, it is nothing Master, I was just thinking."

"You mean, like your past? Have you remembered something other than your name and time?" She asks with curious eyes.

"Just bits and pieces that I just can't seem to put together," He said.

"Ah, well that's a shame, I bet you were a truly interesting person when you were alive," She says sitting down at a table and began to pour herself some tea.

When Archer had met Irisviel, he thought she was going to be a little more...mature? Yes mature- caring, but mature. Well, she was, when she wanted to be, but she had a serious childish streak going on. Now he definitely knew where Illya got it from. She was always curious about everything and thus was seriously excited about going to Japan. She just wouldn't stop...bouncing. She was more hyperactive than her own kid sometimes. It was seriously weird how at one second she would be seriously childish then act with the elegance of a typical magus next.

"Archer," Irisviel said looking up at him and holding the tea kettle. "Would you like some tea?"

Archer just stared at her. "Master, you do know I don't need to consume food, right? I'm fueled by the prana you provide."

Irisviel just smiled at him. "Yes, but you will have some with me won't you?"

Shrugging Archer sat down across the table for Irisviel and watched as she poured tea into a cup and passed it to him. He picked up the teacup and took a sip.

...

...

...

As calmly as he could Archer put the tea cup down on the small plate and pushed it gently away from him, earning a curious look from his Master as she tilted her head to the side and looked at him. Looking straight at his Master all Archer could say was:

"I'm truly glad that I do not need food or liquid to keep my strength up or else we would be in serious trouble."

Archer then got up and headed towards the window, leaving Irisviel in shock. Outside, he saw Kiritsugu and Illya playing the game he and Illya had been playing a few hours ago. It seemed that Illya was beating her father if the look on Kiritsugu's face and Illya's haughty expression were anything to go by.

However, Kiritsugu surprised him by putting Illya on his shoulders. They seemed... happy.

Archer smiled for a second before it turned into a frown. Looking at this happy moment despite the fact he knew the fate that awaited them, filled him with...sadness? Anger? Dispair? He didn't know anymore, he had been filled with those emotions to the point he could no longer tell them apart. Archer then left the window and headed back to where his master was sitting. She had left while he had been in thought.

"She probably went to go check on Saber," He thought.

Ever since he finally recognized her after their little tussle in the church, he has pretty much tried to avoid her as much as possible. It wasn't the most mature thing he had ever done, but whenever she was on his mind his heart seemed to hurt a bit. It was the same kind of pain he felt whenever he glanced at Illya. The feeling of failure that hit him like a truck whenever he spent time with her- he knew what it was. Though the reason was lost to him, at some point in his life, he had tried to save Saber and failed. He failed...

Had that been the starting point?

Had the regrets of his life started the moment she and he had parted ways?

Possibly, it just took until after his death to realize they were there.

"Archer?" Irisviel shook him by the shoulder and snap him out of his daydreaming once more.

"Yes, Master?" He said.

"Kiritsugu said that the maids are done with the packing and that we're getting ready to leave," She told him. Archer nodded and dematerialized.

"Ah wait," Irisviel said.

Archer materialized again with a curious look on his face. "Yes, Master?"

"Here!" She said excitedly and handed him clothes...fancy clothes. "I made it myself!"

"Uh...Master?" He said holding up the clothes "What is this?"

"A suit!" She said with a smile on her face.

"Um Master, why are you giving me clothes?" he asked

"Since Kiritsugu's Servant gets normal clothes it's only fair that mine gets some too," Irisviel said in a matter of fact tone.

Archer mentally face palmed.

"But Master, I can just..," Archer froze.

'Uh-oh,' He thought

Irisviel had a look of kicked puppy on her face and looked as if she was about to cry.

The red-clad Servant just sighed a little.

"Truly, Master, do you think a few crocodile tears will get me to wear that?" Archer said pointing at the outfit in Irisviel's hand

Irisviel dropped her sad expression in a second, before looking at her hand that held her command seals then back to her Servant. A sinister grin appeared on her face. This caused Archer to take a step back.

"Master what...?" He said before he was interrupted by Irisviel, who was slowly walking towards him the outfit in one hand and the other raised in a fist pointing at him. Her smile was filled with an evil purpose.

"Archer..," Irisviel started.

'She wouldn't.' Archer thought as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"By these command seals..," She continued.

'She's bluffing, there's no way...'

"I order you..."

'I will not cave!'

The back of her hand faintly glowed red.

xxx

'I-I caved.'

Archer thought as he and Saber were watching Irisviel say goodbye to Illya, all three command seals still intact. He and Saber were wearing matching suits, but the ties were...different, while Sabers was a normal black one, Archer was wearing a...bowtie with the letter A stitched on it.

Kiritsugu and Maiya had left ahead of time to prepare. Irisviel and the two heroic spirits would take a later flight, Saber wanted to go with her master, but he ordered her to stay here. Archer was beginning to see why his old man and his former partner weren't on the best of terms.

After Irisviel was done with her, they began to head out when a small tug was felt on Archer's pants leg. He turned and looked down at the perpetrator and saw Illya looking up at him.

"Kiritsugu said that Mama wouldn't be coming home anymore."

She began shaking.

Archer listened as she continued.

"And Mama said that she'd always be with me even if she was gone," She began to sniff. "But...but..."

"Illya?"

"But I don't want Mama to leave, I want her to stay with me and Kiritsugu, so we can still be a family," She said as tears fell down the white haired girl's face.

At this, the Counter-Guardian's eyes softened and he kneeled down before Illya and patted her on the head.

"Illya," He said, his voice gentle as he spoke. "Your mom will always be your family gone or not, but I have no intention of letting her...disappear."

Illya looked him in the eyes.

"You promise?" She said as she held up her pinky.

Archer gave her a small smile and wrapped his pinky around her's.

"Of course."

He then wiped the tears from Illya's face and went after his master and Saber.

When he caught up to them all he could do was stare at the back of Irisviel's head.

He had made a promise, one he intended to keep.

He wouldn't fail her.

No, not again.

He was, after all, Illyasviel von Einzbern's hero.

* * *

A/N: Annnd now it is time for the bottom fun A/N, so here I answer reviews and talk about Fate-related stuff. So first up answering your reviews .

zou (Guest): Don't worry I have special plans for Maiya, she is important to the story. Also sorry no FemGil, just really wouldn't work with the theme of this story. Maybe i'll write another and include her. ;)

Ameila831: While I have a certain image for what their relationship will be like, I can see Irisviel taking a shine to what you described, but I don't know about EMIYA, guess we'll have to wait and see.

Piterio: I am sorry you didn't get to see the orignal story, however the prologue didn't really change aside from EMIYA's reveal. Chapter 1 has some of the orignal material such as EMIYA and Irisviel sharing tea and a bit more.

Guest : Yeah your right I need to change that soon, having Kiritsugu ask Shirou what mythology he was from was honestly bad writing on my part.

Fall2Glory: Yea sorry about that, however I hope you enjoy the story.

Riiba: So I read Kaleid liner, by which I skipped, all the way to Shirou's fight scene and your right he's badass, he just gives me the chills. (Puns!)

Server lock: Thanks it's good to be back.

* * *

Alrighty now some of you have questions as to why did EMIYA reveal that he was from the future. My answer to that is he is not in the fifth war, he is in the fourth, Kiritsugu hasn't meet Shirou yet. EMIYA never told Rin as that would've disrupted his plan to kill Shirou. However hear he has no need to hide it, nor reason. However EMIYA would like to keep the fact that he was the master in the fifth war a secret, He still plans to kill himself so revealing he's Kiritsugu's adopted kid wouldn't do him much good.

Also for Archer's origin, i'm going off a interview I found where Nasu said: That he pictured Archer's route to be a different version of the Fate route, where he failed to save Saber's heart, but understood her.

Ok so we are now onto the fun part. As I stated my favorite character is Shirou, my favorite route is...I don't know yet never seen Heavens feel. So far I like Saber's relationship with Shirou more then Rin's. I also like Shirou's dream of being a hero. Also Shirou busting out of All the world's evils was awesome, but so was the Archer vs Shirou fight. Ahhh so hard to choose. I guess time will tell. As for my favorite Fate story, aside from stay night, i'll have to say I'm stuck between Extra and Apocrypha. I haven't finished either, but my first playthrough on Extra is with Archer and i'm reading the Apocrypha manga. I've also bern reading Strange fake which is really interesting.

Speaking of Extra Archer, had I not read the last episode of Stay Night I would've thought he was Fate route Shirou.

Also anyone been to the BL forum (Beast Lair), that place scares me I feel like one wrong step on nasuverse laws and they'll send me to the great mushroom in the sky. Seriously that place is for hardcore nasuverse fans.

I'm also posting a challenge on my profile, I wanted to write it but its too close to TEH and I don't trust myself not to rip off my own story. The challenge is what if you stuck one of the Shirous (Fate, UBW, HF) 10 years after the events of their route and stuck them as a master in the fourth war. This was inspired by TEH and two other stories, The Heart of the suffering by Arashi Leonhart and Fate/ ZeroNight by C.O.Y.L, check those out their very good. Check my profile for more details.

Hmmm anything else, ooh yeah so I have another story Idea for Fate. Its not another challenge, it's a story I would very much like to do. What if you had an Apocrypha between the servants and masters of Fate/ Stay Night and Fate/ Prototype. It seems like an interesting scenario. My problem writing this is how incomplete Fate/ prototype is. If you guys can help fill in the blanks, like who is Gilgamesh's Master, who is Assassin and Berserker, stuff like that PM me. Don't worry TEH is my first priority.

Anywho this AN is getting too long. Until next time.

Also I want to give credit to Laukhi, my beta, who without him this story would look like an author's nightmare.

seeya


	3. Chapter 2 redone

A/N: So sorry about the wait guys and gals. It's been a rough 3 months. Anywho guys so I think I left alot of stuff from the original version, so I guess I was just satisfied with this chapter. So progress on this story is fine I know what I want to write so If anything it's just being sick, busy, or down right lazy for not getting chapters out to you guys. Also I'm thinking of writing a one-shot focusing on Archer Extra and Archer F/SN. Think you guys might be interested in that? I've got a bunch of other one-shots I want to do involving different Fate characters (Archer and Saber, Shirou and Irisviel, Kairya and Sakura F/SN not F/Z, A story involving the Emiya family , post routes one-shots, Also Koyomi Aragai and Shinji Matou. ) I also got another Fate story, not a one-shot, in the works, it's set in the Extra universe involving both Hakuno's. I got the idea after reading the comment section of a Fate Extra blog.

This top AN is getting to long so now onto the show!

* * *

The Einzbern's Hero

Chapter 2

xxx

The plane ride to Fuyuki went smoothly, if not a little awkwardly if Saber had to say so herself. The plane had touched down in a couple of hours after they boarded. Irisviel was the first out of all of them to get off the plane- well, more like "jumped out" than "got off".

"Ah, so this is where Kiritsugu was born. It's so pretty," She said as she twirled around, taking in the view of the airport.

Saber smiled at the woman's attitude. She just had this air of innocence to her that not even her master could say no to, and Saber had become very fond of her.

"W-whoa!" Irisviel said as she tripped over herself. A hand from the person behind her grabs the back of her coat to keep her from falling on her rump.

"Seriously, Master, you need to be more careful."

Her fellow Servant, not so much.

Saber wasn't overly fond of the bowman, and the fact that he was on board with her Master's ludicrous plan didn't help her opinion of him. Not to mention anytime she or her Master would inquire about his abilities, he would smirk and say something ridiculous.

"Think of it like pulling a rabbit out of a hat." The servant once told her.

Not to mention his mannerism was unbefitting of a heroic spirit. He would always sit with his feet propped against something, whether it be a table or otherwise. The way he treated Irisviel was something as well, anytime she asked him something that seemed obvious, Archer's response would be something bordering on an insult. Saber dearly hoped that not all men of the future behaved as he did.

However, that was not what truly bothered her.

No, what angered her the most were the looks the servant gave her. The stares that he gave her when he thought she wasn't looking. His eyes held emotions she had not seen since she last looked in a mirror. The eyes that held sadness, regret, and if she wasn't mistaken, longing. Every time she looked at him it was like looking at herself and it infuriated her to no end.

"Come on, we have to get to the castle and check in with Kiritsugu." Archer's voice broke Saber out of her thoughts.

After getting past airport security, hearing Irisviel's 'oohs and ahs', picking up their luggage- well, Irisviel's luggage, and being the source of public display due to Archer's choice of attire, not to mention that his skin hair didn't help matters, they were picked up by a fancy black car one of the maids brought around.

Irisviel stared out the window at the city while they drove by in great awe.

"So Kiritsugu left before us huh?" Said Archer, who despite being the tallest was stuck between both Saber and Irisviel.

"Um-hm, about twelve hours before us," Irisviel said. "It gives us enough time to explore Fuyuki while they prepare the castle."

"That's dangerous. What if we're attacked by an enemy servant?" Saber objected.

"That's true." Irisviel sat back down and turned her head towards her lap.

Archer stared at his master for a second, it would be smart to immediately head to the castle immediately, but

"It's just...you see." She said trying to find the right words.

"Master?" Archer gave a small questioning look.

Irisviel just sighed. "It's just, this is my first time here." She said, still looking at her lap.

"Here as in Japan?" Saber asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No, I guess I worded that wrong, when I say here as in outside, this...this is the first time I've been truly outside, away from the castle," Irisviel said, earning shocked looks from both servants.

"You mean you've been stuck inside that castle since you were alive?" Saber asked, waiting for Irisviel to elaborate.

"Yes, you see, I'm just a puppet made by the Einzberns for the Holy Grail. I wasn't supposed to really be...'human' so to speak." She was met by an awkward silence.

"Oh, but that doesn't mean I'm ignorant of the outside world, Kiritsugu brought me movies and pictures and told me all kinds of stuff." She says shaking her hand trying to make the awkwardness disappear.

As Saber was sitting there thinking about whether they should stop and tour the place for Irisviel, Archer's mind was going somewhere...else.

'Of course, she would be, she's one of that old devil's prized homunculus after all,' Archer thought bitterly.

Jubstacheit von Einzbern, otherwise known as Old Man Acht, was a humanoid golem and the eighth head of the Einzbern. He was a typical magus and a real stuck-up one at that. All the man truly cared about was winning the Holy Grail War. Failure to him was not tolerated- it was considered basically failing the Einzbern family as a whole.

Of course, Illya and Irisviel would be tied down to the castle grounds. They were that man's tickets to achieving something he desperately sought.

Suddenly, Archer told the driver to stop and turns to Saber

"Oh, come on, what's a little touring going to hurt," A small smile made its way onto his face. "Besides. you've never been here either. It'll give you a chance to get used to the environment as well."

Saber gave a defeated sigh. "Very well."

"Yay!'" Irisviel yelled in excitement.

They all got out of the car and began to tour the town. They found a large shopping plaza in Mount Miyama. The first place they went to was a clothing store, where Irisviel had both Archer and Saber try on clothes to see what she liked on them for many more clothing projects to come.

("Ohh you both look so cute.")

("E-even though I'm a king, I will take this swat at my pride for the lady's sake.")

("Why me.")

Then they found a restaurant where they all had a meal, and due to some insistence from Archer, Saber had a meal as well.

("Oh my! This is the first time I've had these 'Miso soup', it's so good!")

("I must say this is a fair meal.")

("To much salt in the paste, the clams are overcooked, and the broth isn't as warm as it should be. 4 out of 10.")

("Huh?"/"What?")

("Oh, n-nothing")

After doing some more shopping at various stores (and having some more horrors), they were heading to go view some of Fuyuki's sights, when Archer spotted a small stuff animal store and on one of the shelves in the store he saw a small stuffed lion. A small memory comes back to him and he lets a small smile creep onto his face.

"I was wondering when I would see you actually smile." The smile on Archer's face quickly vanished as he looked to the side of him and saw that it was his master, who spoke.

"Huh?" Archer said confusion evident on his face.

"Ever since you were summoned, anytime you smiled it was either fake or sarcastic. It's good to know that my servant knows how to truly smile," She said with a smile of her own. She then grabbed Saber's hand and took off a bit ahead.

"I guess after all this time, even I forgot how to smile, huh?" He asked to no one in particular, before looking ahead- and this time, instead of staring at the back of his master's head, he stared at the person next to her.

Archer simply sighed, ran a hand through his hair, and said: "I guess I'm getting too soft."

xxx

After taking in the view of some of Fuyuki's sights until it began to get dark, they found themselves on a beach and the servants watched as Irisviel ran towards the water without her boots on and her pants legs rolled up.

Archer looked at Saber who was watching Irisviel with soft eyes and a smile. Trying to establish some communication between them, Archer did the only thing he could.

He poked fun at her.

"Oh no!" Archer said a fake gasp escaped his lips as he covered his mouth as Saber looked at him. "Saber don't tell me...you're in love with my Master!"

It took the blue knight a moment to process what he said.

"W-what!" She yelled, face as red as a tomato. "What foolishness, I am in no such thing!"

Archer could only snicker at her flustered face.

"You should learn to keep those feelings in check, Saber, or else you might start a love affair," He said, chuckling a bit.

Saber turned away from him. Face still a bit red, Archer might have thought she was actually in love with her had Saber not said:

"I guess it was because we could make her have a fun time, I was just getting a bit relaxed," She said.

"Ah. Yeah, well, I guess I can understand," He told her. "I am kinda glad I could do this."

Saber looked over at him and saw Archer looking down at Irisviel with a sad knowing look on his face. However, before could she could say anything his eyes quickly changed back into ones that gave nothing away.

Irisviel began to speak, "Today was perfect, I got to shop, eat and go sight-seeing, just like in those movies Kiritsugu brought me and as a plus, I got escorted around by two perfect gentlemen."

"It was my pleasure, your highness." Saber said bowing.

Archer just gave a shrug. "You're my Master, what else was I supposed to do."

Irisviel just laughed. "You two were perfect today. Thank you."

"Wouldn't you have preferred it if Kiritsugu had escorted you today?" Saber asked.

All Irisviel gave was a sad smile. "I think that would have made Kiritsugu sad."

Saber gave a confused look. What did she mean by that?

"Surely you don't mean he does not like being with you?" She asked.

Irisviel slowly shook her head. "No, Kiritsugu would be sad if he was happy with me, being happy causes him pain."

Saber was silent for a bit, she wanted to confront her fake master. Before she could do anything, however, Archer spoke up.

"And?" Irisviel's white-haired servant said in disdain. "You just allow that to happen, I thought you two cared about each other."

Both Saber and Irisviel stared in shock at what Archer just said. After the shock wore off Saber glared at Archer and was about to reprimand him, but before she could get a word in Archer spoke again.

"You shouldn't let your life be dictated by the something that might be inevitable. If you do, then the love you felt must not have been all that strong, to begin with." He spoke with the sound of experience in his voice.

How many times had he fought against the inevitable, there were few times he succeeded and many times he failed. However, if there was one thing that Archer never forgot through his long 'life' it was to never stop fighting even when all the odds are stacked against you. After all, if he couldn't even believe in that, then he would just resign himself to be a servant of Alaya and accept his miserable fate.

Before he could continue his sentence he felt the sensation of being called as though someone was saying "I'm right here, come get me."

'A Servant, here, now!?' He thought.

"Master." He said.

"A Servant." She said as if reading his mind.

"Should we go?" He asked.

Irisviel nodded her head. "Yes. Don't worry, if anything Kiritsugu is already there." She looked at the Servants before Archer grabbed her and all three disappeared to meet this mysterious servant.

xxx

When they got to their destination, only Saber and Irisviel were there to meet the Servant as Archer had, as instructed to by Irisviel, hid himself to watch the fight and to give them support from the shadows.

When Saber and Irisviel had arrived they saw the mysterious servant. It was a man with black curly hair that had a bang reaching to the mole on his face. He wore green-colored light armor, and wielded two spears, a long spear with a red spearhead and a shorter spear with a yellow tip, both covered in purple bindings.

"I'm guessing he's of the Lancer class," Archer whispered. "Never liked those guys."

"Welcome," Lancer said. "Out of all the servants you are the only one to accept my challenge and guessing by your pure aura, you are Saber no?"

"Yes," Saber said. "And you must be Lancer."

"Tch," Lancer grumbled. "It is dishonorable for a knight to not be able to give his true name before battling, I dislike these rules."

Saber stayed quiet and changed into her battle gear.

"Irisviel, stay back." she said.

"Saber, be careful. I can use healing magic and support you from behind," Irisviel informed her.

Saber positioned herself for battle, gripping her sword. She then noticed something odd.

"There seems to be a charm on you Lancer." She said.

Lancer gave her an apologetic look.

"Sorry, Saber, but this was a curse placed on me while I was alive. I hope it won't affect our fight."

"Hmph, it'll take more than a pretty face to save you from my blade. Come, Lancer!" And with that Saber charged at the spearman.

Atop one of the containers, Archer was thinking.

'Cursed face, pretty face...wait a sec!' He thought.

"Trace On!" He chanted and looked at the two spears Lancer wielded.

"Gae Dearg, the Crimson Rose of Exorcism, and Gae Buidhe, the Yellow Rose of Mortality. It looks like we're up against Diarmuid of Love Spot." Archer began sending the information to his master. 'Irisviel, Saber is up against Diarmuid Ua Duibhne. Tell her to watch out for the red spear's magic negation and the yellow spear's curse against healing.'

Irisviel nodded her assent. "Saber!" she called out. "Your opponent is Diarmuid Ua Duibhne! The red spear has anti-magic properties while the yellow spear can cripple you!"

Surprise flashed across the faces of Saber, Lancer, and Lancer's master Kayneth. Saber quickly processed the given information and began to watch both spears with increased care while Lancer recovered as quickly as Saber and prepared himself for battle once more. On the rooftop, Kayneth was reeling from what he had just heard. The wrappings around Lancer's spears should have prevented anyone from being able to tell Lancer's true identity. So how had that homunculus found out so easily the nature of the spears?

Lancer cursed as he released the bindings from both his spears, the element of surprise long gone. He dashed at Saber with speed befitting his class, striking his yellow spear to force a block and his red spear to strike past her magical armor. Saber stayed on the defensive, diverting the spears thrusts and blowing them back, away from her whenever they got too close. Lancer kept this tempo of striking to maim permanently and then going to move past Saber's armor until he stepped forward and changed things up by moving into a furious flurry of attacks with Gae Dearg, keeping Saber occupied with the task of guarding against the onslaught that could easily pierce through her magical armor. Clashing with Saber's sword, Gae Dearg began to use its passive effect to chip away at the Invisible Air that surrounded Saber's sword, revealing the golden light bit by bit. Shocked, Saber quickly disengaged and retreated to make some space between the two of them.

Lancer smirked as he brought himself back into a ready position. "That golden light…no hero could possibly mistake that blade. It is an honor to face against the King of Knights."

Saber wrapped her blade in wind once more and held it in both hands, ready to strike. "Just as it is my honor to fight the first knight of Fianna. Now that we both know each other's names, let us begin this duel properly as knights."

Archer tensed, prepared to intervene and take down Lancer when the opening provided itself, but before he could do anything, someone else beat him to it. Falling from the sky in a chariot pulled by two bulls that sparked lightning, a giant of a man with red hair and a small little teenager in comparison rushed to the docks, coming at a stop between Lancer and Saber.

"He must be of the Rider class, if that chariot means anything," Archer said. He sighed.

'Now, we just need his real name and we can come up with a plan. If only every servant told us their true name; it would make this a lot easier,' Archer thought.

The large red haired man raised his arms.

"Heroes, sheath your weapons for you are in the presence of a king, for I am Iskandar, King of Conquerors!" Rider bellowed.

Archer sat there with a neutral look.

...

'Eh? Wait...Iskandar, does he mean Alexander the Great... Wait, that Alexander the Great... wasn't he supposed to be a lot shorter than that?' Archer thought. All he could do was sigh.

"Guess now all we have to do is watch to see what he wants."

It seemed that Saber wanted to know as well, because she was angrily demanding Rider for answers on why he interrupted her duel with Lancer.

Rider, with his hands still in the air, continued his speech.

"I have a proposition for you all! Join under me and together we shall take the Holy Grail!" He announced.

Once again Archer had a neutral look on his face.

"Huh?"

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A/N back in 2015: Hello ladies and gentlemen and thank you for reading The Einzbern's Hero, I am shocked over the support this story is getting from you the readers. Over two thousand views, 35 reviews, 73 favs, and 95 follows, I just gotta tell ya this means a lot to me, and I mean a lot.

A/N: Wow guys looking back at that AN has actually got me in tears, I never thought The Einzbern's Hero would actually be this popular. Over 200 reviews, 600 favs and 700 follows, makes me wonder if i'm cheating a little. Anywho onto answering Your guy's reviews.

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Zou (guest): You have become my all time favorite reviewer Zou, mostly because despite you writing these giant reviews, no matter how many times I read them I can't understand them, like at all. However keep reviewing Zou i'm sure i'll decipher what your trying to tell me eventually. Also sign up on FF so I can reply back to you about so I can ask you Where your getting these ideas from.

Blinded in Bolthole: Yes indeed Beast-lair is truly a scary place, it is full of people who I don't dare try to correct on Type-Moon related info. I also hope our beach-body protagonist succeeds as well. However everything has a price. O_O

.75: Unfortunately no pairings except for the already established ones like KiritsuguXIri.

Guest: Remind me never to write a Ruby/Fate crossover on their site.

Isame Kurode (guest): I had meant for the original to be just as dark however it didn't come off like I'd hoped. Stick around Isame I have a ton more Fate related things i'm gonna write about.

blarg7865: Have I played Fate/Extella yet?! Bud I pre-ordered the game and maxed it two weeks after. If they survive...well I guess we'll just have to wait and see. Around the 4 to 5th chapter is when the train fully derails from the tracks. Also I think it was stated that Extra Archer participated in his own grail war, and he could do projection and reinforcement during his life.

Holix25: Yes~ That would be interesting if one of them came wouldn't it. :3

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So now onto the Fun part: First off did anyone else know that Old Man Acht was a golem, cause I didn't.

So finally got Fate/GO on my phone, bad news everythings in Japanese so I don't understand it. It sucks but as long as I can get Mordred I don't care.

Ahh so I did something i'll never ever do again, watch someone play Fate/Stay Night on YouTube. It took me three days to finish all the videos, but I did it. Now I said before because I had yet to really watch Heavens Feel, I couldn't really pick a favorite route. However since reading the VN, I can't choose any I love all three routes, each route shining lights on their stories and heroines in different ways, not to mention their portrayal of Shirou is very fulfilling once you read all three. I also sobbed really loud reading last episode. However each has their own faults that I feel balance each other out. So... I can't choose -_- However now I have a newfound appreciation for the 2006 Deen adaption of the Fate route and Ufotable's adaption of UBW, not to mention I can't wait for HF this October.

I Also found this beautiful story about Kiritsugu and Archer on a website called Danbooru. It's by an artist named 'sno' I think. I truly is a touching story. However be warned that the site contains NSFW images.

Also I'd like to recommend a story for those who want more of a relationship between Shirou and Irisviel in their lives. It's called Fate: Song of Grail and it's about an AU (duh) where Irisviel finds Shirou instead of Kiritsugu. It's an amazing story by FallingMore.

Oh right before I go now, while I have no real favorite version of Shirou in the VN, we all have to admit Heavens Feel Shirou is the most badass. So I also have been reading the Fate/Kaleid series , by that I mean I skipped all the way to the most recent chapters. Who would win in all out brawl HF Shirou with Archer's arm or Miyuverse Shirou with the Archer-class card and for motivation let's say Kirei has convinced MV Shirou that HF Shirou has kidnapped Miyu and Julian has convinced HF Shirou that MV Shirou has kidnapped Sakura. Who do you guys think'll win? Me I believe HF Shirou would win.

Anywho guys i'll catch ya in the next chapter.

seeya


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